Willits man suspected of sexual abuse of 4-year-old boy

Authorities on Sunday arrested a 26-year-old Willits man for allegedly sexually abusing a 4-year-old boy while the person he lived with was babysitting the child, according to the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies responded to a home in the 25000 block of Cobb Drive at about 6 p.m. Sunday and spoke to the young boy's parents, who said they had dropped off their son at a friend's house earlier that day for babysitting, according to the MCSO.

When the parents returned, the friend told them that while the parents were gone, the friend had found the 4-year-old alone in the house with Kyle Andrew Gillaspie, who lived in the home, the MCSO reported.

The friend reportedly became suspicious when s/he noticed the child was partially undressed, and the boy allegedly revealed information suggesting that Gillaspie had sexually abused him.

Sheriff's detectives established probable cause to arrest Gillaspie on suspicion of performing a lewd act on a child and penetration with a foreign object. Gillaspie was booked at the Mendocino County Jail under $100,000 bail.